Report Finds Poor Conditions for Immigrant Detainees in O.C. Jail

Share this:

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

The Theo Lacy detention facility in Orange is seen in a Los Angeles Times photo. (Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Report Finds Poor Conditions for Immigrant Detainees in O.C. Jail

The Theo Lacy detention facility in Orange is seen in a Los Angeles Times photo. (Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The hundreds of immigrant detainees housed in Orange County’s largest detention facility have been served foul, slimy lunch meat; use moldy showers; and contend with inoperable phones, according to the findings of an internal inspection issued Wednesday.

Some detainees said they had to rinse their acrid lunch meat off with water before eating it, according to the report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The review, which was based on an unannounced inspection in October and interviews with detainees and staff members, found that the poor conditions violate standards set by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition to unsafe food handling, the inspectors found that high- and low-risk detainees were housed together and that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s method for imposing solitary confinement for discipline violated ICE standards.